Zuluboy laments our Marikanas

About 16 years ago Brenda Fassie zeroed in on the 1992 Boipatong massacre; now rapper Zuluboy has penned a similarly distressed song about Marikana.

Despite having written the song before the killing of 34 striking miners, in August, its content meant he needed only to change its title.

Marikana is one of the tracks on his politically conscious fourth album, Crisis Management, which was released yesterday.

Two years before South Africa achieved a successful transition from apartheid to democracy, the turf battle between the Inkatha Freedom Party and the ANC boiled over in Boipatong, in the Vaal Triangle, on June 17 1992 claiming many lives.

Four years later, Fassie sang solemnly: "They were attacked and brutally killed. I'm talking about babies and old people too . we can't allow this to happen again. They call them squatters; look what they go through. They don't deserve this. Boipatong, we give you hope and sympathy."

About Marikana, Zuluboy - whose real name is Mxolisi Majozi - said yesterday: "We decided to name it only now because it says: 'Baba baxolele, baxolele wena dlozi lami [Father forgive them, forgive them my ancestor] and it was written from the point of view of a child that has to bury a father alone.

"The thing is that, in life, people make mistakes. We need to learn from them, that's it," he said.

In the song, Zuluboy spits: "Ngathi ngivuka ekuseni, ngadons' ibhala ngaqhuba ubaba ngihamba ngikhala. Ngihamba ngedwa, ngicula amagugu la endleni, ngicgwele udaka ezinyaweni, ngimba ngedwa emathuneni, kungena makhi, kungena sihlobo, kungena mndeni [I woke up in the morning, drew a wheelbarrow and pushed my father in it, while walking alone crying and singing hymns on the way. I had mud on my feet, digging a grave alone, no neighbours, no relative or family]."

The album represents a rebirth of sorts for Majozi, who rose to prominence with his 2006 debut album, Masihambisane. Last year, overwhelmed by the fast-paced lifestyle in Johannesburg, Zuluboy went home to Durban.

Now he is back with an album that will "raise eyebrows" - which is exactly his aim. He wanted to get South Africans talking.

"[The album] is a concoction of love that I'm sending to my people when I see that they are not where they are supposed to be.

"In our lives as individuals we say that the most constant thing is change, but if that's the case I don't think we've implemented that very well. That's why I think we need crisis management. We let our history speak to us and we don't know how to move on."